While pro-EU demonstrations took place again for the 21st consecutive day in Georgia this Wednesday, December 18, hundreds of people who took part have already been arrested and sentenced by summary justice. Although other trials remain to come, the opposition does not disarm, while the outgoing president Salomé Zourabichvili criticizes the “ slowness » of Europe’s reaction and calls on it to act « any further » in the face of the political crisis shaking his country.
2 mins
With our special correspondent in Tbilisi, Julien Chavanne
He floats a little in his suit jacket and his legs move under the table in this small courtroom. Sergo Kitiashvili nervously awaits the verdict. It will be a simple warning for this 22-year-old young man, accused of “ hooliganism » and “ disobedience » to the police: “ I didn’t expect this decision, I thought I would at least pay a fine. »
His judge has only been in office for barely two months, but everyone knows him. Last week, Zviad Tsekvava was sanctioned by Estonia for human rights violations.
Lawyer, Tamara Zarkoua is not surprised: “ I defended people who demonstrated against Russian law last spring and noticed that the court was not as harsh as it is today “. Some demonstrators are presented before a judge without being accompanied by a lawyer, as the law allows. So Tamara Zarkoua and around twenty of her colleagues spend hours waiting outside the courtrooms to offer their help, voluntarily.
“ They prevent us from presenting our defense, they rely only on the testimony of police officers, and often they address the accused asking them why they demonstratedtelling them “don’t go there anymore”etc. All this proves that the Georgian state uses the judicial institution to repress. »
Prison sentences are rarer, but fines reach heights: up to 800 euros, double the average salary in Georgia. While there are still more than twenty people in prison, no police officer has yet been convicted of violence.
With the collaboration of Irma Inaridze.
Also readHow can Georgia emerge from the political crisis?